About ABRA

Lance & Lesli Rose

Lance and Lesli Rose have owned and operated the American Bulldog Registry & Archives since 2005. They acquired ABRA from its founders — Tony Mancera, Vern Hopley and Rob Armour — and have spent two decades maintaining the integrity of the registry and expanding the breed archive.

Both Lance and Lesli are NKC-licensed judges and ABNA (American Bulldog & Alapaha Blue Blood Bulldog Association) representatives. Together they have judged American Bulldogs in nine countries: Canada, USA, Germany, Denmark, Russia, England, France, Hungary and Italy.

In 2001 — before taking over ABRA — they organized the Rosebull Parade, the first Canadian American Bulldog show, helping establish Canada as a serious force in the international AB community. They breed American Bulldogs under the Rosebull prefix at their home in Harvey, New Brunswick.

Lesli serves as registrar and reviews every registration submitted to ABRA. Pedigrees are verified, not rubber-stamped.

History of ABRA

ABRA was founded in 1998 by Tony Mancera, Vern Hopley and Rob Armour as a dedicated registry for the American Bulldog. The breed had no single authoritative registry at the time — it was spread across several multi-breed organizations that lacked breed-specific expertise. ABRA was built to change that: a registry run by American Bulldog people, for American Bulldog people.

Unlike multi-breed registries, ABRA focuses exclusively on the American Bulldog — maintaining accurate pedigrees, verifying breedings, and promoting health testing through programs like Blue Ribbon. All three recognized American Bulldog types are registered: Classic (Johnson), Performance (Scott), and Hybrid.

Every dog registered with ABRA receives a permanent profile on the American Bulldog Archive at pedigreedatabase.ca. The archive now holds over 43,000 dogs, making it the deepest American Bulldog pedigree database in existence. Pedigrees are searchable by name, registration number, or kennel prefix.

ABRA Naming Policy

All ABRA-registered dogs carry a breeder prefix, the kennel name of the person who registered the litter. This preserves the breeder's legacy in every dog's name, for the life of that dog. When a puppy is handed off to its new owner, the buyer keeps the breeder prefix and may add their own kennel name as a suffix using the @ format.

Example: Rosebull's Thunder @ Bear Valley — Rosebull is the breeder prefix. Bear Valley is the new owner's kennel suffix.

Blue Ribbon Program

The Blue Ribbon program rewards breeders who health test both parents before breeding. When both the sire and dam have passable hips, clear NCL and clear ICH, the litter qualifies as Blue Ribbon — earning the breeder one free keeper pup registration and Blue Ribbon Brood Stock status in the database. The program was designed to make health testing the norm, not the exception.

ABRA Verified Breeder Program

The ABRA Verified Breeder designation recognizes breeders who meet a higher standard: registered kennel, health-tested stock, registered litters on file, and a demonstrated commitment to responsible breeding practices. Verified Breeders receive a badge for their kennel listing and priority placement in the breeder directory.